Midway through the Towong Cup on Elveena, apprentice jockey, Hannah Edgley, was thinking how lucky she was that the horse’s trainer Ben Brisbourne was not on track as the five-year-old mare ($4.60) travelled wide at the rear of the field.

“It was a shocker of a ride early,” Edgley said.

“She was four wide from barrier five and we were going nowhere down the back.

“We were still last coming into the final turn but she picked up and went to the line really well.

“All I could think of during the run was the spray I was going to get from Ben,” she laughed.

It was the stable’s second consecutive victory in the Towong feature after saluting with Mischinka last year.

It was almost a home-town win when Euphemia hit the lead prior to the post but the mare, part owned by sisters Wendy Heal and Dixie Coutts, daughters of club legend TJ Waters, had to settle for second as Elveena stormed home. Emperor Of France held on for third.

The turf club was extremely happy with its annual meeting which drew a huge crowd and provided a keen day’s racing.

The crowd tally was 2984, an increase of almost 600 on last year’s attendance.

“We set ourselves the goal of getting 3000 but just missed out,” said club manager, Rohan Whitehead.

“It was still a comfortable crowd and everyone could move around on course and grab something to eat and drink and have a bet without any hassle.

“It was getting back to where we were before Covid.

“We were also stoked with the final fields and we had capacity fields for five of the severn races after they fell away with scratchings,” he added.

“The meeting wouldn’t be such a success without the help of the hard working committee.

“A few volunteers even cleaned the running rail around the entire course with a pressure washer and scrubber this year.”

This article appeared in the Corryong Courier, 16 March 2023.